Doodle Notes & Bullet Journals

Taking care of a body can be really confusing. As more and more data and tech are available to us, it’s so tempting to consume and compare- but trusting trackers, food logs, and external body ideals can actually erode trust in our own body and in the signals it gives us. When we wait to…

Research shows that 15-20% of teens self harm. Brain scans of teens who cut or self-harm are likely to show early structural changes in the brain that are correlated to mental health disorders in adults. Thankfully teenage brains are resilient, and with early intervention, attention, and care many can recover completely. Historically, Self harm…

I’ve noticed a recent trend in culture towards the co-opting of mindfulness for the for-profit beast of the “wellness” industry. Social media and advertising increasingly paint the picture of mental wellness (particularly for women) as an idealized version of ourselves that stays neutral, calm, and unrattled by the loud emotional experiences around us (with, of…

In response to often being lectured at instead of listened to, struggling teens may use apathy and resistance to gain a sense of empowerment. While we adults usually labels these as “problem” behaviors, they aren’t necessarily a bad thing! Resistance through either defiance (overt resistance) or apathy (subversive resistance) is actually one way a…

I got to go to a Patreon Bootcamp in Seattle this week, where I was really inspired to help my fans and followers know about all the things I am imagining creating, and inviting you along on the journey to making them happen. My Patreon patrons are making it possible for me to imagine how…

This one’s for all the interns starting this month. My internship-assigned mentor gave me a bulleted list of things that HAVE to get discussed in a first therapy session (left side of the page), and some talking points to bring up if the conversation is difficult to keep flowing (right side of the page). Naturally,…

Healthy adults are independent AND dependent. Most of us have anxiety as we shift between what we fear is dependency on one side and isolation on the other. Health isn’t overcoming the temptation towards either, but instead it’s learning to thrive in the tension between them. This week I have had several conversations around loneliness…

When I took the class on family therapy in grad school, I fell in love with the visual language of genograms. Since making this genogram chart at the start of that course, it has been one of my most shared sketch notes across multiple platforms. Scroll to the bottom of this post to purchase a…

Preparing for print a selection of my psychology sketchnotes for my Patreon subscribers each month has been a fun experiment as I sort through sketchnotes old and new and learn the in’s and out’s of the best way to convert doodled sketchnotes to print-ready worksheets. This month I included in the PDFs this page of…

Many families that are struggling will identify one person as “the issue.” Having one person to care for (or rage against) soothes the family by allowing them to create a place where they can locate their pain. When the family locates their problem in this “identified patient,” the sense of helplessness is eased as the…

Advice my Relational Therapy professor repeats almost every class: learn to hear your inner voice as you listen to another person. Don’t cling to what textbooks say is a "correct" intervention, and don’t allow your natural defenses to control the interaction, both will destroy the possibility of an authentic encounter.

Your body, your community, and the kids in your shpere of influence need you to think critically about cultural messages about weight, who is allowed to eat what without judgment, and what being healthy actually means. Notes from a #healthateverysize training in Seattle. Weight Science: Evaluating the Evidence for a Paradigm Shift by Linda Bacon…

I’ve been slowly revamping some of my bullet journal layouts in the last few months. I’m still loving the content, but finding bullet journaling is more fun and less overwhelming for most people when putting together a layout doesn’t require a large amount of time just to prepare a page to begin journaling. Instead, I’ve been focusing…

Raised as a feral child in the 1980's craft-show scene, I love all things art and DIY. In 2015 I transitioned from a career in retail/tech to full time grad school- accidentally becoming an illustrator, writer, and sometimes speaker somewhere along the way.

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